Jamaica, Queens, NY [PHOTO SLIDESHOW]. Today I was in the Jamaica section of Queens, NY in and around the area surrounding Sutphin and Jamaica Avenue. I came across King Manor, which is an 11 acre museum and park. It was the farm and home of Rufus King from 1805 to 1827. Rufus was one of the nation’s founding fathers and an outspoken opponent of slavery. For more on this important museum, go to <a href="http://www.kingmanor.org">King Manor</a>

While the area is ethnically diverse, it skews toward African American and Caribbean / Central American ethnicities. It occurred to me that perhaps the ethnic composition of the neighborhood may in part be due to Rufus King’s forward thinking some 200 years ago which is part of his legacy today.

I found the streets to be teeming with commercial life, from hair and nail salons, to restaurants, to furniture and clothing stores, to fish markets and fresh vegetables. See some of the pictures included in the slide show below. The area is also home to direct transportation to JFK airport and hence I noticed a fair number of travelers making their way through the subway station, as well as employees of the airlines.

As I walked the streets and visited the shops, I noticed some tremendous deals on just about everything. It was worth the trip and I returned home loaded with bags of goods.

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